NEW YORK—Barack Obama just got a four-year contract extension from the people of the United States. If the president's brother-in-law, Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, wants to keep his job that long, he needs to hope for change.

The Beavers gave it everything they had on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, erasing a 15-point deficit in the second half before finally falling to Alabama, 65-62, in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

The problem was not Oregon State's effort. It was execution, and, to a certain extent, a system ill-equipped to handle a team like Alabama.

"I'm going to take the blame for us not getting off to a good start," Robinson said. "It seemed like, at the beginning of the game, we were in sand, and we were not flowing like we're capable of, as we showed in the second half."

The second half, after the Crimson Tide turned a three-point edge at intermission into a 15-point advantage, was when Oregon State adjusted to Alabama's speed. Joe Burton, the Beavers' 6-7, 295-pound forward, went to the bench with 14:02 remaining, and Oregon State outscored Alabama, 26-16, the rest of the way. That's not to say that Burton, who had eight points, three assists, and two rebounds, played badly, but taking him out allowed Oregon State to move the ball more freely against an Alabama defense that proved much stronger than the Beavers at closing out shooters.

The Crimson Tide hit seven 3-pointers, including Rodney Cooper's decisive trey from the corner with 13 seconds left, over a hard-charging Devon Collier. The Beavers, who had connected on 17 of 36 three-point attempts in their regional-round wins over Niagara and New Mexico State, went just 3-for-10 from long distance, and 0-for-5 in the second half.

"I'd have to take a closer look at the tape, but what it felt like to me, just instinctively, playing the game, was that a couple of them were rushed," Robinson said. "We took a couple of ill-advised shots, and then we were having an easier time going to the basket. We like to go inside-out, so we were trying to get (the forwards) going first, and then look for our threes."

That never happened on Thursday night, and Robinson credited Alabama for being a big part of the reason why. The other part of the reason may be systemic, and that is why Robinson should be concerned.

When the Princeton-style offense works, as it did on a Burton pass to a backdoor-cutting Angus Brandt for a dunk in the first half, it results in easy points for forwards. The complementary piece, and the only way the offense can be successful, is that an opposing defense must respect the threat of the 3-point shot from all five players on the floor, and leave enough room for those cuts to happen and result in easy layups. Oregon State's forwards have attempted eight 3-pointers in three games, and none on Thursday night, which largely kept Alabama from having to stretch its defense and open lanes—it was through gritty interior play by Brandt and Collier, rather than anything much to do with the system adapted from Robinson's alma mater, that Oregon State got back into the game.

Even with the contributions of Brandt and Collier, it was not a particularly good night for the Beavers in the frontcourt. Oregon State missed 17 2-point shots, and 11 of those were layups or tip-ins. Make two more, and the Beavers are 3-0 on the season.

"It comes down to making the plays you need to make," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said.

Alabama did. Oregon State did not. Further, the Beavers made plays they needed not to make. Up-tempo or not, a Princeton-style offense requires crisp passing, and the Beavers' 20 turnovers came largely as a result of quite the opposite.

"They handled our pressure, and we didn't handle theirs," Robinson said. "The extra possessions (from the turnovers) were really key. … If you want to play at this level, and be good at this level, if you want to be talked about at the end of the season, you've got to play two full halves."

The only place that Robinson's teams at Oregon State have been talked about at the end of the season has been in the College Basketball Invitational, where the Beavers have gone in three of his four campaigns. In Pac-12 Conference play under Robinson, Oregon State has gone 7-11, 8-10, 5-13 and 7-11. Not many coaches survive five consecutive losing conference records.

"You play in these kind of tournaments so you can get some early testing on the kinds of teams that are similar to the ones you're going to play in your conference," said Robinson, who is signed through the 2016-17 season. "So, we got that test. We get a C-minus. I don't think we get a D on it, I think we get a C-minus. We've got to get A's and B's."